I seriously couldn’t believe that it has been six months since my last post, where does time go?? Apologies for the lack of posts, I just haven’t realised I have been on the “missing blog person list” for such a long time, thanks to wordpress for reminding me by email on Monday!

AS I said clearly time goes by too quickly when you are having a good time (Dear Madonna I love your confession on a dance floor album, but how can you say Time goes by…so slowly?! that’s a lie!!)

I have turned 32 last week, so this is the proof that time flies quite fast,as I am not 25 anymore.

I have been travelling and cooking, and the usual stuff as normal but somehow I forgot about the blog, sorry! I have been back and forth from Miami a few times, went to the South of France for a lovely family holiday and went to the Italian riviera to celebrate my husband’s birthday and to spend time with my family, in between aperitifs and dinners!

On a lovely relaxing evening out with Coco overlooking the sunset with a glass of prosecco I suddenly realised, it is time to post something on the blog. I keep well as usual, just one year older damn it…I do have the feeling that people always overshare with social media, me included, and probably that’s why I haven’t felt like posting for a while, but I am back with some amazing memories of travels and good times to share with you.

The past ten days have been simply amazing, after a few years of living apart in different countries, my best friend and I managed to squeeze in a week long vacation together, like the old good times and trust me we had so much fun!!! I keep on looking back at the pictures to try to live all the moments again, it is true that time goes by too quickly when you are having fun and spending time with the people you love! From Miami to Boca Chita (by boat) and from Brickell to Key West (by car) every moment was a laugh, every song listened remind us a good moment in time…oh God it wish it wasn’t over! Anyway let’s start the countdown to Christmas and to the next two trips planned, Italy and Florida again of course! I am stuck with ideas for Christmas gifts for everybody, any suggestions?? Now you can have a look at the pictures of Anna, Anna & Kim Take Miami!

Yes I am, I am finally 30 years old and it doesn’t feel too bad yet! It has already been 10 days and the time has just flown by, we had such a good time in London celebrating my birthday with our good friends and we had a great time in Italy visiting my parents and seeing part of the family, but I will let the pictures to speak for me.

Have a great weekend

The celebrations started the night before with a surprise cake!

Coco cracked the champagne…

Yes I did ask for these bright Hunter boots!

Living it up at the Ritz in London for a cocktail

And having fun while shopping

Getting ready for the night at my cousin’s place

Having a good time over dinner

I collected a few cards! To keep them all

A bit hangover I needed some serious smoothie to sort me out

Italian riviera here we are!

Loving my pretty shoes present from my cousin

My husband’s favourite time of the day while in Italy, Aperitivo!

And dinner of course

Roof top view

And another aperitif

My best friend came to visit us!!! so Happy

Dessert…of course

The next aperitif

Making fun

My Daniel Craig is coming out of the sea

Rooftop life

Getting ready

A trip down to Sestri Levante to see la baia del silenzio (the silence’s bay)

When a Brit asks for pepper in Italy…

Headache day and my mum passed me the hat!

The last aperitif with my new pretty handbag

Back to England feeling the holiday blues, to beat them let’s use focaccia and parmesan cheese!

in less than 24 hours it will be my birthday, exactly 9 days after my husband’s birthday and we cannot wait to go to London to celebrate the event with our good friends, I can’t still believe the number…it feels like yesterday when I turned 18, or 20, or 24…30 seems such a big and imposing number!

I have had a few busy days last week, we had some friends over from the States and we have been enjoying the English countryside, with lots of food and drinks…that’s why I have been Booze Free since Thursday, but I so look forward to crack the rose’ champagne tonight to start the celebrations!

An Italian trip in a few days, a trip to Ibiza in September…and Miami to come soon enough to keep me busy and look forward the next move. So obsessed with pets and babies at the moment, I went to visit friends last week I and get so happy around the babies and toddler…will it be our turn soon? Hopefully!

I wish you all an amazing week!!!

xxx

Our first birthday cake made by our friends daughters, so sweet!

My latest obsession, Benson the bulldog Cavalier king charles meeting upOn a windy day out and about in Brighton Smoothie o’clock, trying to detox Sunday roast at the local pub with my American girlfriend And a British afternoon tea Happy birthday to my gorgeous husband I want kids right now, look how gorgeous Christian is!!!! So obsessed!!! And his little sister who likes to take selfies with AnnaCocktail o’clock at Aqua Kyoto in London My first 30th birthday card!!! Manicure monday, I love my Cake Pop shellac colour! And why not photobomb Coco?? My gorgeous baby

After 10 days in the hot and humid Miami I am back home, reunited with Coco, struggling with the jet lag, enjoying the beautiful (for the moment) British weather and so looking forward to have my husband back home at the weekend, I wasn’t very happy to start with but thanks to Norwegian airlines I had two more days in Florida due to problems with the plane, luckily I managed to fly back solo without too many problems…I just missed my cousin’s birthday bash in London and the chance to spend time with him and our friends…Bloody Norwegian!!!

The vacation/holiday was hot…hot… and sometimes stormy, so looking forward to go back there in September when, I hope, the weather should be more bearable.

I have some pictures to show you the best bits…and I am getting ready to turn 30 years old in 19 days…I am actually quite paranoid about, I am growing old and it doesn’t help the fact that apparently I cannot pronounce 30 correctly…according to people I sound Irish when I say thirty…I am going to be stuck with the 3 for a while damn it!

Well, let’s not worry about and let’s just think that after the birthday we will go to the Italian Riviera to celebrate the time with my parents and friends…so looking forward to trofie al pesto and industrial quantities of focaccia to eat!

Have a good day you all

xxx

They say size doesn’t matter…I think it does in the States!

So pleased to see this gorgeous face again!

And I fell in love with Cody, the new puppy of our neighbour

It cannot be breakfast at Atelier Monnier in Brickell Ave without getting some Macaroons

Bad hair day?

Cruising around town

Do I need a filter? I think I look tanned anyway!

A walk on the beach at the lighthouse in Key Biscayne

Walk with racoon spotting

Gorgeous day out on the boat at Boca Chita Key

With a pit stop at the sand bar on the way back

Getting ready for dinner, while trying to cover some interesting tan lines on my back thanks to my bikini!

Rusty pelican our favorite dinner hotspot

Biscayne bay view

The poor lobster has been renamed Sebastian to pay tribute to the Little Mermaid Disney Character

I am so sad to have left, once again, the sunshine state behind me…especially when I come home and the weather in England suddenly turns wet and miserable, it makes me want to run away again! Oh Dear Miami how many good memories I take home with me every time…the friendly and beautiful people around town, the warm sunshine, the parties, the boating, the bike rides around town, the endless tasty dinners and the new restaurants to discover…it is always a discovery for me! I do hate the plane ride though, it makes me tense and nervous thinking that I am over the big pond (I haven’t gone over fear of flying and I don’t know when I will finally surrender to the fact that is the safest form of transport…clearly not yet).

Today you are going to read something a bit different than my usual “personal” style, I joined forces with American travel expert Kendra Thornton and we spoke about our favorite places on Earth, Miami for me and Las Vegas for Kendra so we decided to put everything in a blog post! As usual I express my love for the city of Miami and Kendra, a proud mother of three, tells her side of the story about Sin City…which can be enjoyed even with family and kids! I hope you will enjoy this collaboration guys and thanks for reading it.

From Anna in her wonderland

Twitter @Anna_L_Collins

Miami, the melting pot of South Florida

Nowhere else in the world you will be able to see such a big mix of cultures like you can see in Miami, from Cuba to Argentina, from Dominican Republic to Brazil, from Colombia to Italy, from Russia to Turkey, you name a country, you will find citizen from that country in Miami somewhere, guaranteed.

Speaking with a friend once in Miami I heard this: – There is no one person who lives in Miami that is actually born and raised in Miami, everyone has an accent and you will get away much better speaking Spanish than English, or let’s say learn Spanglish it will be easier for you.

I fell in love for Miami the first time I landed there, back in 2007; I still remember the drive from the airport to South Beach, All night long by Lionel Richie was on the radio and just to see the skyscrapers off the causeway made me so happy, so relaxed, so…at home.

You can find everything you want in Miami, at any time of the day and night. Stores open 24/7, clubs and bars in continue expansion everywhere, amazing hotels, posh restaurants, fast boats, luxury boats, celebrities filming reality shows and music videos, designer stores and malls, art fairs, boat shows, exotic cars, if you are up for the holiday of a lifetime, Miami is the place to be.

The party town of South Beach goes even crazier during the Winter Music conference week, that collides with spring break (Easter holidays for American colleges and university) with music events everywhere, international DJs, pool parties and so much fun going on, the perfect setting for an European party-goer.

But what about the language “barrier”? As Italian who moved to the United Kingdom I learnt that everywhere you go in the world the English language should be predominant, or at least everyone will understand you, well you are wrong, this is not happening in Miami.

The city is nicknamed the “Capital of Latin America”, is the second-largest U.S. city (after El Paso, Texas) with a Spanish-speaking majority, and the largest city with a Cuban-American plurality.

Cubano estadounidense is the way forward, all of them live “normally” within the only few real American citizens of Miami, most of them are born and raised in America as American citizens themselves, in most of the cases grandparents or relatives are Cubans, and they switch perfectly from Spanish to English and viceversa, I know a few of them who are Americans with Cubans parents and they have never been to Cuba, how crazy is that?

I love everything about this big city, I love South Beach with all year round tourists everywhere, I like Brickell with its skyscrapers and locals buzzing around, I love Little Havana with all its Cuban and South American restaurants, I adore the pretty area of Coconut Grove with all the marinas where we always hang out with our boat, I love Sunset Drive and its shops and bars, despite the busy US1! I love Key Biscayne and its beaches where it feels like to be in the Caribbean…but where you can still see the Miami skyline…so many things I love about this city that I could keep on writing forever.

After all these years of travelling to Miami and my part time life there I must admit I haven’t learnt Spanish yet, despite people think I am Latino (good old Italian dark skin and hair), but I am trying to get into the different mix of cultures every time, and I will never stop to learn something new every day and open my mind even more…that’s why I love Miami so much.

From Kendra Thornton

Twitter @KendraThornton

Let’s All Go to Vegas This Summer

Going to Vegas has always been one of my favorite and most memorable trips. There’s so much to do, so many places to see and tons of quirky thrills to enjoy. Whether you want to jump in the aquarium with sharks or rock out with KISS as you golf, there are a lot of different shows as well to enjoy while on your trip to the strip. Even when you head outside of Vegas, there’s more to see like the Grand Canyon. If you’re anything like my family and friends, you can’t just settle for seeing a few things.

1. Go Where the Sharks Go

When you think of a desert, sharks, crocodiles, moray eels, jellyfish and piranhas are probably not on your mind, so you probably didn’t know that you could swim with these incredibly mysterious and yet graceful creatures! At Mandalay Bay, you can jump in the shark tank and hang out with 15 species of sharks as well as other terrors of the deep. They’re actually quite interesting to see up close and not nearly as deadly as people make them out to be. You get to learn a lot about these different species while also swimming around them for an up close and personal look.

2. Rock Out with Your Club and KISS

The KISS Mini Golf experience is probably one of my favorite things to do in Vegas with the kids. You get a mini golfing experience that’s completely different than the boring clowns and dinosaurs of other mini golf parks. With giant guitars, animated replicas of the band and lots of music, you’ll get a lot of laughs as you go around the 18-hole course.

3. Quirky Museum Trips

There’s a lot of history in Vegas and some mystery as well. The museums in Vegas really show off the strange history of the town including the Neon Museum, which is a junkyard dedicated to the old neon signs that have been discarded by the hotels and attractions once popular on the strip. There’s also the Discovery Children’s Museum and the National Atomic Testing Museum.

4. Wild Roller Coasters

You may not be able to handle the double corkscrew, double-loop coaster called The Canyon Blaster at The Adventuredome at Circus Circus. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience. There truly is no other roller coaster like this one in the entire world. If you’re going to Vegas with kids, it will be hard not to stop by this theme park.

My family and I enjoy Las Vegas every time we visit, mostly because with so many hotels to stay at and things to do, each experience is different. With so many people traveling to Vegas, user reviews are readily available. Sites like Gogobot make it easy to read these user reviews.

It has ben years now but there is still something I don’t understand completely, there is a connection, I have a deep connection with the city of Miami that I can’t explain in words, I can only tell you that Miami is my home, the place where I feel better than anywhere else in the world. It must be the sunshine, it must be the people, it must be the atmosphere, it must be something that makes me so happy that I can’t even explain, but please, keep on going!

We came back from ten amazing days in the sunshine and despite the weather is quite good here I miss already our good times spent away, going out boating, riding our bikes in the morning, lounging by the pool in the sunshine, going out for amazing dinners around town, watching the peacocks walking around the yard, trying to learn some Spanish, hanging out with good friends, oh no I can’t believe it’s over! Here we go some pictures of our good times.

With Love

Before leaving

Just arrived, cuban food!

Sushi at the Delano

Lunch by the pool

Out in Key Biscayne for a bike ride

2 bikes in the trunk? of course!

bike testing at Walmart

Getting ready to go out

Friday out in West Palm beach for the boat show

Worth avenue

Moijto time at home

See? Everybody needs a bot with a toilet!

The housekeeper, the pool keeper…

Dinner at my favourite spanish restaurant, Barceloneta in South Beach, with the most amazing pictures in the restrooms!

Tennis time in Miami

Sunday, beautiful and perfect day to go out boating

Prosecco time at the sandbar

Bike ride in the morning in Brickell overlooking the Rickenbacker Bridge

Here I am, back I England after two wonderful weeks in paradise with friends. I slept my usual 12 hours after arriving home, felt like if I was drunk for nearly 48 hours and after that I thought I sorted myself out…SO WRONG!!! Last night I went to bed at 11.30pm, yeas I am sure I will sleep fine…until at 1am I had to take sleeping tablets because the jet lag mixed with a light dinner after two weeks of indulging didn’t help, I was mentally going through all the recipes from the South Beach diet cookbook!!!

We had such great times in the place we love most in the world, enjoying each other company and…I got completely besotted by the two gorgeous toddlers…what a great time!

I feel bad to be back home, I miss the company full on all day, I miss the heat (I am more a 85 degrees person than a 30F!) I miss the barbeques, I miss the bloody mary after breakfast and the champagne at 10.30am…I miss the music, the vibes, the people, the spaces, the skyscrapers…I miss Miami again, two days after being back…that’s why I call it the Miami Fever.

I will have to go back into reality, into projects, into the blog, into the diet…yes 2.5kg in two weeks is not cool, I can be a Kim Kardashian bum stuntwoman right now! But it’s not long now…Miami I heart you, I will be back in 5…weeks!

I must admit I haven’t turned my laptop on for ten days…I couldn’t face to stop enjoying our good times here but I had too…to download all the pictures and of course to write this post! I love Miami more every time I come back here as you all know, and I am dreading to the idea of leaving here on Friday night!

Boating, shopping, drinking, eating, relaxing, chilling…one of the best vacation of all times!

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Anna in her wonderland

If you fancy Keep Up With Anna in her wonderland, Italian wedding planner born and raised in Bergamo (Italy), moved to Brighton (UK) in 2009 and adopted by Miami 6 years ago, I a more a Miami girl than Brighton Beach one! I write this blog to keep my friends and family updated with what I am up to,from pleasure to business everything I write is my real life and nothing that I write about has been set up for your entertainment, Are you interested? Follow me!
If you want to contact me please email me annainherwonderland@gmail.com